Whoa…camp was awesome! 2/3

I woke up ready to go for the first full day of camp.  The food at camp was much better than I thought it would be. Breakfast for me was freshly made pancakes, strawberries and orange juice.  Yes, freshly made…like there was a dude making them on a flat grill.  All of the teams at camp were responsible for running a cafe for an hour and a half at the Mesa Hall so I had to check that out before class.

Now that I was full and caffeinated it was time for the sensory skills exam.  I have heard a lot about this class, mainly that it’s really hard to pass.  Trish Rothgeb was our instructor and she did a great job!  The main objective of this class is to identify three flavors: sweet, salty and sour.  There are three parts of the exam the first is to identify the flavors on their own, the second is the three flavors at different intensities and the third is to point out the intensities of the three flavors in one cup.  Yeah, it was really difficult.  I didn’t pass but I’m looking forward to taking it again.

The second class of the day was CB100 Seed to Cup presented by Noah Namowicz.  After taking a seed to cup class a few years ago I changed the way handled beans.  These classes really highlight how much work goes into growing, transporting and preparing coffee and we must respect all of that work.  Noah did a great job outlining the life of coffee from the tree to the cup.

Once again camp food was bomb!  Burgers off the grill, I made mine a double because I’m a growing boy.

Now that my belly was full I was ready for the difference testing lecture!  Sarah Dooley and Rusty Angell showed us how different a coffee could taste by changing only one variable, turbulence.  I spend a lot of time in the lab working on proper extraction so this class spoke to me.  Personally when dialing in any coffee I only change one variable so it’s easier to figure out what change most affects the final cup.  BTW Dooley and Rusty might be the best looking instructors out there!